rosavelle | Late December / January Catch-all

[The Princess' invitation was a little awkward and cumbersome but Dante loved upfront, honest requests like that. Scammers made everything sound too good to be true, trying to sell the moon and the stars in exchange for a favor but the less certain it all sounded, the more it felt real.

Still, he wasn't prepared for the boredom. He'd parked himself in the garden and shut his eyes, pretending to nap while waiting for that cloud of attendants to arrange an outfit to his liking before letting himself get held down to be dressed by a bunch of kind-looking folks with startingly chilly hands.

Before he knew it, he was mingling with a bunch of workers at the pier, a stupid grin cutting into his cheeks. There were sighs all around as he'd lifted a cup to show his dice and opened his hands to collect coins into a thick leather purse. There were sullen faces in the mix but plenty of smiles, given the sheer number of cheesy jokes he'd cracked while he was busy playing to his advantages.] Appreciate the spending money, boys... but I've gotta run before lady luck leaves me and you all clean me out.

[Strolling his way out into city, he started following all those smells that often promised a good time in a new city. So far? It was the second easier job he'd ever been on.]

(OOC: Short and sweet for now! Catch him out in the city while he runs around trying out pizza and sweets... and occasionally sharking people playing games in the open.)

Edited 2025-12-28 21:28 (UTC)

[Was there such thing as too much partying?

Dante wouldn't know. He never had a spring break, none the less been invited to a friend's place for a birthday or holiday. Whenever he wanted, he could stroll up to a liquor store owner and grin his way through to getting a bottle and most bartenders thought he was charming enough to get past the need for pesky things like licenses and proof of identity. Besides, it wasn't like there were many people who'd turn away someone with two gigantic pistols worn on their hips like formalwear.

Rosavelle cared even less about it and he didn't even need the pieces at his side for it, so they sat under his bed in a heap with his shredded clothes from the week before. Instead, he got to enjoy parking himself on a roof in the prettiest city he'd ever seen, guzzling down warm, spiced liqueur without a care in the world while he stared at the stars.

Unfortunately it was dull as hell but that was his life in a nutshell. He had nothing but boredom to look forward to and yet... it was a little nice that he could see the stars for once.]

[ Why tonight does she have a visitor in her favorite sulking gargoyle spot? How'd he even get up here? ]

Usually drunkards pass out in alleys, not rooftops.

[He half-heartedly gestured with the bottom of his bottle with an audible 'swish'.]

I'm not passed out, little lady.

That's why I said something.

[ After all, someone out cold wouldn't be much good for conversation. He didn't need to know she did talk to herself sometimes either. ]

You could fall and hurt yourself being drunk up here.

[There was something about her demeanor that made him feel a little more genuine when he smiled.

She was weird.]

Worried for lil ol' me? I'll just have to be careful.

[ Worried?? He's got a lot of nerve... He's not completely wrong, but his attitude about it makes her eyelid twitch. ]

I won't catch you, then. You're on your own.

[ Since this was her spot originally, she'll go right ahead and take her seat. An arm or so length away. ]

[Ah, he recognized that tone. It was the precise pitch of 'women annoyed with him' made all too familiar recently.

Strange that she was sitting down closer, though.]

Am I? So, you wouldn't reach out if I started tipping over?

[ Don't worry Dante, it's not that you're special. She's annoyed with everyone by default.

Even so- ]

I'm not gonna say something when it hasn't happened yet. If it happens, then we'll see.

[ She might. Though she'd also expect him to be too wasted to remember. ]

Edited 2025-12-29 02:37 (UTC)

[It was difficult to really commit himself to believing her at face value, none the less pretending.

He had a way easier time just teasing outright.]

Sure, sure. [With a selfish guzzle, he turned the bottle at just the right angle to let fire flow down his throat, unimpeded before letting the bottle tumble harmlessly into the snow beside him.] Ahhh...! See...! I'm up here 'cause I didn't wanna stare up at balconies and so people wouldn't bug me about emptying bottles like that.

[He wiggles his newly empty fingers.] What's your excuse, beautiful?

[ The sudden rush of heat in her cheeks nearly sent her into a dizzy spell. "Beautiful?" What? What? Who just up and says something like that to a stranger?! He must've already been drunk. Stupid, lousy drunkard. There's no way he meant that. Nobody would ever mean that toward her. He was just trying to get under her skin. That's all... ]

This is my spot. [ Duh ] I have every right to sit here where it's not noisy.

Oh? Well, if that's the case... [Opening his mouth wide, Dante feigned a yawn and leaned precariously over the edge of the roof only to catch the edge with his index finger and effortlessly hold his whole body's weight with it. He pushed up, flipping up to land on his heels beside Lucy with the sort of grace reserved for Olympic events both silent as a cat and sturdy as an ox despite that precarious positioning.

He'd promptly bowed and chuckled at her, seeming proud of himself.]

...Hey, since it's your place, you wouldn't mind if I stepped inside and helped myself to some grub, would you?

[ Some athleticism...definitely has to be another of Callie's invited guests. He doesn't seem like a local. Though something else about him is off in a way she can't really describe. Even the other her is perplexed. ]

Not like I own the building so...sure. Go ahead.

[He had to stifle a real laugh then, leaning a hand on his hip and then staring straight down at her.]

Thought it was your spot? I was kinda gettin' the impression you were telling me to get lost.

[ What's his deal? Staring down at her like that...with blue eyes, no less. She should slap him... ]

Get lost then.

[ She shoves at his calf to throw him off balance. If he's that athletic like before, it should be fine. Maybe. ]

Edited 2025-12-29 04:51 (UTC)

[At that, he'd simply feigned shock. The unthinkable happened as she'd swept his leg almost as if he had the strength of a shrew and he fell off the roof.]

Ah!

[Only, a split second later he was behind her, squatting with a big, dumb grin on his face.]

[ For a moment, she thought she'd actually knocked him off balance and sent him tumbling off the roof but-

Oh, there he is. He's in tip-top shape and completely fine. Of course. She tilts her head back toward him with her mouth screwed into a displeased pout. ]

I thought you were hungry. You didn't appreciate me hurrying you to the ground?

[He didn't get to see that initial look on her face at first but the flat look she gave him then made up for it.

Maybe she nicer than she let on? That girl was been willing to give him a scare but was still none too pleased that he played a little prank about it? Maybe she figured she could stop him from falling... or she was genuinely displeased he survived.

Either way, that pouting was awfully cute.]

Can't blame you for being considerate, huh?

...and, you gotta love a girl who pays attention when you talk.

[ Does he just not know when to quit? She's vexed that her cheeks are still so red from just a couple words said in the right way. Who does he think he is?!

Who does she think she is, for that matter? Getting so flustered by a few nice words after- ]

Don't make fun of me. I'll kick you off the roof for real.

[ Anger. Yes, that's right. Anger. Irritability. That's the best way to ignore those feelings she doesn't have the right to observe. ]

[Propping up his chin on his hand, he matched her voice with a fairly flat response.]

Get ticked off all you want but it's not gonna change the facts.

[It didn't matter why she didn't like him throwing those words around. What mattered was that she'd almost certainly lash out more if he were too careless.

So, the only thing he heard in her voice was how little she wanted to be hurt. There were monsters that would have plied her further with more honeyed words to cool her off but he knew what that sort of frustration was.]

You like crepes?

[ Facts, huh? What does he know about any of that in regards to her? No, more importantly...Crepes. Crepes?

Unfortunately, Nana was the one to have a whole mini-arc about crepes, not her, so while it sounds familiar, she can't conjure up a mental image. ]

Never had one...what is it?

[ the night is still young. there's still places to explore. and the devil only gets one moment. for exultation, for celebration, for the joy of living life. she's been given a stay of execution in this place. allowed to bring a hell of kindness and blasphemy and blurred lines, friendship/love and boy/girl and her body/the sky. what else can she do but rejoice in herself?

and so she flies above rosavelle, a whirl of light and feathers and eyes looking out over the city. she dives through alleyways, rushes over rooftops, and laughs in the sheer happiness of being. and then, on one rooftop in particular, she surges up over the side-

-and there's just. a guy there. she stops in her tracks; that ever-shifting mass openly stares. and then, after a moment, a high tenor asks: ]

Um. Sorry. Am I- Are you okay?

[What Venus found in return for her concern had been a crocodile's smile. The lazily slouching young man laid out before her had spent the day, as most, alone in a sea of voices and so he'd patiently waited for the passing silence of the night to have time for himself. The hum of people moving, taking their time getting home after get-togethers and parties was a pleasant enough backdrop compared to a quiet night in Redgrave.

The bottle in his hand was emptied by the time she'd found him and the moment his eyes set on hers. She didn't smell like a demon as far as he could recognize but he was already antiquated with things that wore deceptive glamours. He watched her with ice-blue eyes, bright and focused. That was a moment of tension, built in an instant, was quite suddenly smothered when he'd held up a finger politely, tipping his head back and guzzling the last dregs of his bottle.]

My bad! [That slouching young man messily wiped the excess from his chin and cheek with the heel of a particularly expensive glove before flicking droplets harmlessly beside himself.] Repeat that question for me?

I dunno. A pastry?

[A lot of dominoes had to fall in a very specific order to craft a rich boy raised by a noble knight who'd learned how to play the piano but never had crepes.

Don't discount how long this boy ate out of dumpsters.]

Either way, there's somethin' that smells sweet around this spot one of the boys at the dock told me about. Want some?

[ There are many slasher movie summaries to be told of how she scrounged up food on the daily as a child, but those are for another time. Or never at all if she can help it. For the time being, the pinkette has to bite her tongue and even out her breathing to keep from saying something mean.

She doesn't have to see Nyuu's thoughts to know what she'd say. How she'd chide her for being a jerk. She can just feel it down in her bones. So noisy. ]

It doesn't sound so bad. I guess.

Late December / January Catch-all

December 27th - 31st (Arrival, Wandering Marelys and Menthward)

28th - 30th (Night, city rooftops)

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